High Street Methodist Church, Hanley

From Methodist chapel to Spiritualist church to restaurant:

High Street Methodist Church - Erected 1860

The church was built in 1860 as a Methodist place of worship.
The church was well attended and formed an important part of the surrounding community for many years.
Old Town Road was originally the main road in Hanley until subsequent development changed the structure of the town.

National Spiritualist Church, 1926

In 1926 it was converted to a Spiritualist Church and
was reputed to be one of the oldest in the country.

In November 2000 due to the ill health of the former president Muriel Shelley the Spiritualist Church was closed and remained so for a year.

The officers of the Spiritualist's National Union's West Midlands District Council found that the administration of the Church had been inadequate with too few meetings being held. A sustained effort was made by the parties involved to keep the Church open, with new officers being appointed and a new acting committee put in place to attempt to ensure the future of the Church.

A decision was made in 2003 to close the Church and seek accommodation elsewhere. The fabric of the Church was left in a state of disrepair due to lack of use and lack of funds to carry out essential works.
An agent was appointed to handle the sale of the former Church in the early part of 2006

The Church, Bar & Restaurant

The church was converted into a restaurant - it's wooden vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows, being left intact along with the historic restoration of it's exterior.

The exterior was renovated incorporating sandblasting/cleaning of the stone and brick work to restore the front, side and rear elevations.

Windows that were previously boarded and bricked up were replaced or repaired. Doorways and doors were refurbished to reflect the historic impact of the building.

Internally the upper level hall of worship was left intact excluding pews and the pulpit to retain the grandeur of the timber vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows. This area was refurbished to form functional leisure space.

The Church, Bar & Restaurant

High Street Methodist Church - on Old Town Road
at the bottom left is the Falcon Pottery Works

Old Town Road, Hanley - High Street, Hanley ran from Market Square, past St. John's Church,
to Providence Square at what was Upper Hanley at the top end of Northwood Road.